Sodium sensitivity of KNa channels in mouse CA1 neurons

The Journal of Neurophysiology would like to dedicate the following podcast to Dr. Richard Gray. Dr. Gray passed away at the age of 68 on September 4, 2021. 

How are potassium channels regulated? How ubiquitous are sodium-dependent potassium channels? In this podcast Editor-in-Chief Professor Nino Ramirez and authors Drs. Richard Gray and Daniel Johnston discuss their manuscript titled  “Sodium sensitivity of K_Na channels in mouse CA1 neurons.”. In this podcast, the authors discuss KNa channels in mouse hippocampal CA1 neurons. Excised inside-out patches showed the channels to be prevalent and active in most patches. Cell-attached recordings from intact neurons, however, showed little channel activity. Increasing cytoplasmic sodium in intact cells showed a small effect on channel activity compared to that seen in inside-out excised patches. Blockade of the Na⁺/K⁺ pump with ouabain, however, restored the activity of the channels to that seen in inside-out patches.  The results emphasize the power of the Na⁺/K⁺ pump in maintaining a normally low concentration of intracellular Na⁺.

 

Sodium sensitivity of KNa channels in mouse CA1 neurons

Volume 125Issue 5 May 2021 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00064.2021

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